Railcar couplers can be placed on railway cars at each end to permit the connection of each end of a railway car to a next end of an adjacent railway car. However, due to in service loads, natural corrosion, and natural wear and tear after hundreds of thousands of miles on the rails, car coupler assemblies and the components that make up the assemblies will wear and/or crack and break in service over time. The main areas of wear and tear are the surfaces and components of the car couplers that are directly loaded. The coupler head of the coupler is adapted to support a knuckle, which is configured to interlock with an adjacent knuckle on an adjacent railcar. When in the locked position, the loads of the knuckle are primarily transferred directly to the coupler head through the top pulling lug and the bottom pulling lug. As a result, the top and bottom pulling lugs are loaded with the tractive effort of the entire train plus any additional dynamic forces and may experience wear more quickly than other components of the coupler.